This is untrue, he constantly talks about his upbringing he received from his white grandparents and mother. American society as whole determines him being black by projecting race on everyone. Do you actually think people would see him as half white if they did not know his background? Race is a concept we all deal with within our society in one way or another. What was the Louisianian law determining a so-called white-enough white, 1/32 or less "black blood"? It's ridiculous.

Babsw, it's not a liberal or conservative issue. However, you don't get "it" either.

I don't see how taxing the top 1.5% of the population (see link below) is going to cause cuts in employee salaries. If we follow your logic in reverse and consider the Bush tax cuts for the top 1.5%, we should have lower unemployment and a stronger middle class. However, we don't. The middle class has been shrinking for a long time.

Besides, we have not had a balanced budget in a since Clinton. The Bush tax cuts are being funded through borrowing from China. Eventually you are going to have to come to terms with reality. Taxes are going to have to be raised, and I would rather tax those who can afford it.

To off the set the percentage of employers making over 250,000 that cut jobs, new jobs can be created to rebuild our country's infrastructure and, perhaps, a way out of dependence on oil. No more oil from "terrorist-harboring countries" - most of oil actually comes from Canada thanks to NAFTA - and lower prices for consumer goods due to transportation and manufacturing costs.

In the end, it's not as simple as you would like to make it. I'll take a chance with Obama than to see my country follow the current policies of Bush.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_income_in_the_United_States

And to the VanillaBean,

Have you been to Europe? Do really think the majority of Europeans would trade their health care systems for our system? I don't see how one could fairly consider European countries as socialist? With this limited way of thinking, the U.S. would be a socialistic country due to k-12 education. Stop trying to use big scary words, and try to think of the bigger picture.

I wonder how many of the Obama bashers know the difference between Sunni and Shia Islam? I also wonder how much income each takes in because Obama has promised not to raise taxes for anyone making less than 250,000 a year. If we are going to get into class warfare, pretending Obama's plans are hurtful for the middle class, we should be clear that making over 250,000 is not the middle class.

"Here's the deal, folks. The price of oil is determined on a world market. That means that oil companies can sell their product - oil - to whoever wants to pay the most for it. Unless our oil company is controlled by the US government, there is NO guarantee that domestic drilling will increase domestic supply."

What will you do when Obama wins the election? Were you spreading the same fear mongering messages during the Republican primary of 2000 against McCain? Do you believe anything is fair politics? If so, would it be worth noting all the absurdities that have come from McCain's speeches? Do you think Bush has done a heck of a job in the past 8 years?

The most interesting report I've read concerning the election was about our troops donating 6 times the amount of money to Obama. McCain is out of touch with reality, messing up Bush's talking points worse than Bush would himself.

Shooting someone in the back seven times is murder. Any reasonable, honest person would agree. The behavior of the fraternity displayed on the evening news during the indictment speaks volumes about the so-called law of the land. Most decent human beings wouldn't sign up to be cop.

Mr. Smith is probably right to assume that this wouldn't have happened at a Jewish community center Uptown, but that isn't necessarily due to race... it's due to power and influence of those who are involved in such Uptown communities.

Did you know that neither "muslum" or Muslim is a language? Perhaps you wanted to say Arabic? Besides, with Bush in office the automated recordings do not ask us to push 1 if our favorite philosopher is Jesus. In any case, good job on spreading ignorance about Obama while the topic is about Shepherd.

Are you serious? The Dow climbs one day after dropping repeatedly and you expect working people to forget the last 7 1/2 years? Let's take a question Ronald Reagen posed to the public when up for re-election, "Are you better off than you were four years ago?"

How is Bush doing better? Do you consider corporate welfare doing better? Do you think there is going to be any significant regulation on the industries he is attempting to buyout on the tax payer's backs? Of course Wall Street is going to respond with a "strong day" after hearing their welfare checks are on the way.

What does the Federal Reserve say about the economy? http://www.democracynow.org/2008/7/16/headlines#5

It's really nice to see bicycling becoming more and more popular in the city. I usually average at minimum 10 miles a day, if not a lot more when doing bicycle delivery.

Besides Europe having many bicycle lanes, motorists there are usually so much nicer and more educated about sharing the road when a bicycle lane is not added to the road. I've done two bicycle tours there, averaging between 60-100 miles a day, and drivers there will move completely into the other lane when passing. Some drivers even honk and wave as they pass.

To add to the useful information supporting biking activities, there is a local Critical Mass and frequent bicycle races. If you parked your park in the Quarter for a length of time you might have seen flyers for the former. I cannot recall the name of the races though. Critical Mass, even if not for everyone, takes place the last Friday of every month.

I, too, have been stopped by the police before. I was riding too far in the lane doing Esplanade. However, it was right after the storm, so I decided the 1/3 right side of the lane was not enough to escape all the glass and nails found on the side of the road due to the mass gutting of homes. The "New Orleans Finest" officer was, of course, completely unprofessional in slamming me against his trunk to review the rules of the road. I don't know if this upset me as the numerous times I've been told to ride on the sidewalk by ignorant motorists. In any case, bicyclists are definitely viewed negatively by the general public when using the road.